Festivals -- Afterthoughts and Observations

Abstract

A PRECARIOUS SPIRAL FESTIVALS, festivals everywhere -- and hardly ever a decent film to be found! Judging by the comments of almost everyone leaving the 1993 Berlin and Cannes festivals one wonders why they came or why they stayed. While certain film-mad festivaliers can rack up as many as 75 films in ten days (that is, if they see them all the way through; others who see bits and pieces claim up to a hundred) the most normal movie buffs see are possibly five a day. By the end of each day then, when time for dinner rolls around, the litany of complaints about what was seen reaches a Dolby-like volume. There is not, it seems, enough good films to go around -- but that depends of course on an individual's interpretation of what is "good." So why do we continue to attend festivals and why do they continue...